Intervention in “The garden of the baroque cloister of San Pío V”

The old school baroque cloister of San Pío V is located within the enclosure of the current Fine Arts Museum of València. The yard consists of a quadrangular plant around which four corridors of three floor height can be found. Those bodies form the yard through segmental arches rising on square pillars made of brick. It opens up a gallery at the bottom, while the superior bodies are covered by rectangular bays. The garden presents a baroque disposition divided in four areas situated in the corners. The stone pavement is crosswise and has a central fountain.

The intervention raised a consolidation of the matter that stop the impairment of the items conserved in the cloister. It'd avoid the ruinous appearance that the space presented. For that very purpose a minimal intervention that redefined and structured the morphology of the garden was requited. This intervention should issue a contemplative and sensorial landscape proposal that linked the landscaped area with the rest of architectural and museological interventions.

In order to achieve the aims of the proposal, traditional techniques and supplies were used in the pavement and fountain restoration. It was proposed that a combination of plant species would reach the sensorial input that we were looking for.

The pavement is made of 24x6,5x4 cm size terracotta ceramic pieces. They are edgewise arranged on a lime mortar with topsoil on the joints so it allows the growth of vegetation. The disposition of the parts is carried out so the joint will be further apart as it moves away from the central fountain so it integrates with the plant species of the garden.

The stones pavements were recovered thanks to a chemical cleaning through a biocidal treatment for the elimination of the existing microorganisms and vegetation. A mechanical cleaning using a water lance was also performed. Lastly, a volumetric recomposition of these missing parts through stone mortar, as well as the missing joints through lime mortar and selected arid was carried out.

The stone surface of the existing fountain was restored following the same criteria that the rest of the existing stone pavements. The added mortars were removed by using a biocidal treatment. The interior was water-resistant treated and a volumetric restitution of the missing elements.

In order to recover the fountain normal functioning, the proposal provided the recirculation and the projection of a water jet through dispenser. To do so, a cylindrical container made of 10 cm deep sheet metal, apart from the original fountain in which ends the design of the water overflow is integrated. The sheet metal has a superficial protection treatment made through a rust proofing primer based on epoxy resin.

In the place of the garden where the palm three that used to be, a cylindrical fountain was installed. It was made up of a 4mm sheet metal vase which acts as a container so when it overflows, the water is collected in a second container of the same material and thickness that redirects the water to the recirculation conduit.

A lineal solution for the rainwater collection was suggested involving the four quadrants next to the fountain's roundabout. The linear sinkholes are built with waterproof mortar that adapt to the curved shaped and that are covered with a grid using the same solution that the ceramic pavement. Two metal curved sheet with angular shape that collect the ceramic tiles placement over a neoprene band.

The intervention of the cloister landscaping consisted in the minimum impact required. Through a drip irrigation and spraying system on each of the quadrants it shapes a garden full of aromatic and ground cover species such cas Rosmarinus officinalis, Thymus, Lavandula angustifolia, Salvia farinacea, Tulbaghia violet or Acanthus mollis. As well as of more foliage such as Nephrolepis, Aspidistra elatior, Cyrtomium, Aspidistra or Musa paradisiaca.

_____

Authors:

el fabricante de espheras, coop. v.

                                   Pasqual Herrero Vicent

                                   Fernando Navarro Carmona

                                   Mª Amparo Sebastiá Esteve

                                   Eduardo J. Solaz Fuster

            Contributors :

                                   Víctor Muñoz Macián

                                   Anna Morro Peña

                                   Yasmina Juan Osa

                                   Sara Juanes Herrera

                                   Maria Pitarch Roig

                                   Francisco Piñó Alcaide

                                   Elisa García Capilla

                                   Jorge Juan Roy Pérez

                                   Sergio Estruch González

                                   Ana Vargas Núñez

                                   Rebeca Piñol Muria